RFT 📰

This week entails a Star Wars-themed night, a place to find your zen and the opening of an award-winning play. Thursday 05/05 Planet Fun

Former Bridgeton City Councilman Andrew Purcell was charged today in the county for stealing by deceit, a felony. Purcell, 36, was appointed to the city council in April 2018 and was then re-elected to another two-year term in 2020.

The year 1986 was an annus mirabilis for American comic books. It's the year the public realized that comics were not just disposable entertainment for kids.

A few hundred protestors peacefully gathered outside the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse Tuesday night to voice opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion to overturn abortion rights. News broke Monday that the Supreme Court drafted a ruling to overturn federal legal access to abortion, a right that the landmark decision Roe v. Wade established in 1973. As previously reported by the RFT, Missouri has a “trigger law” that gives the state the authority to prohibit abortions, except in medical emergencies, upon the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

Activists gathered downtown Tuesday afternoon to protest the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade. Eyewitnesses are reporting that a protester was hit by a car. The RFT had a photographer, Reuben Hemmer, at the protest.  Here’s what he said:

When the spring weather starts to heat up, fresh fruit is arguably one of the signifiers of the impending summer solstice, hoisting farmer’s markets into the limelight. Eckert’s Farm (multiple locations including 2719 Eckert Orchard Lane, Millstadt, Illinois; 618-233-0513, eckerts.com) hosts a temporary farmer’s market each year in celebration of their fresh produce, and this year, they’ll be extending their season a little bit longer. The farm has operated a pop-up market for more than 20 years, and this year it will be in Rock Hill at 9530 Manchester Road beginning May 12 and running until August 28.

Even if those pocket aces get busted on the river, online poker is a glamorous game of skill, a bit of luck, and a whole lot of fun – and the best poker sites online deal it out in spades. With low traffic poker sites and shady licensing being commonplace though, not all of them are reliable and worth your money. That’s why we’re ranking the best online poker rooms based on specific player-first criteria.

St. Louisans can again fly direct to Canada starting this weekend. Air Canada ceased operation in St. Louis due to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. The first direct flights to and from Toronto in two years will take off and land on Saturday.

This story was originally published by Creative Loafing Tampa. Musical acts that defy categorization and are difficult to describe are rare, fascinating creatures.

In the past year and a half, federal prosecutors have charged more than a dozen individuals in the St. Louis area for fraud relating to the Paycheck Protection Program and other COVID-relief programs. The various schemes that have resulted in prosecution add up to more than $7 million in alleged fraud, according to analysis of court documents by the RFT.

It’s hard to pinpoint the precipitating event that led Ymani Wince to open a bookstore. Maybe everything started while learning to read from her grandmother’s flashcards or all those times her father refused to define words for her, encouraging Wince to read with a dictionary at her side. Maybe it began every time he said yes to another book at a library or at a store.

This story was original published in our sister paper the San Antonio Current. A new study has determined that people in states where cannabis is legal are less likely to drive while stoned than people in states where weed remains criminalized. The study, published this month in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports, analyzed self-reported data from a national survey on cannabis use.

This summer, a first-of-its-kind consumer cannabis brand educational expo will be held in St. Louis, presenting an opportunity for the general public to learn about the region’s medical cannabis products. You do not have to be a registered Missouri medical marijuana patient to attend this event. In fact, it will be a great place to get a new certification or renewal.

Last night, Politico leaked a draft opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States — one that if it remains unchanged would overturn Roe v. Wade, a court decision from 1973 that protected abortion federally. Once the opinion is officially released, the decision will have dire consequences for abortion in Missouri, a state that already has harsh limits on abortion access in place. The state already has in place a so-called "trigger law" that will outlaw abortion in the state upon the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

Outside of June’s Breakfast + Patio (430 South Main Street, Shiloh, Illinois) in Shiloh, Illinois, birds sing and bees fly from flower to flower on Earth Day. Inside, a small sign on the front counter highlights the “Bee the Change” latte, which is made with oat milk and locally sourced honey. Some people wait to order at the counter, while others sit and relax inside or out on the patio.

The month of April felt relatively quiet on the restaurant opening side of things with most of the activity centered on additional locations and new concepts inside existing spaces. Hi-Pointe Drive-In opened its first Illinois location with a storefront popping up in O'Fallon, while Gioia's Deli, hoping to capitalize on returning Westport Plaza area office workers, opened a takeout window at its production facility in Maryland Heights. DraftKings at Casino Queen added the elevated American restaurant Bridgeway to its playbook, and Winslow's Table  renovated their downstairs area, converting the former events space into a retail shop filled with curated artisanal goods, wine, spirits, fine foods, beauty and home-care products.

Arch Rival Roller Derby league is hosting its first event after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Jams & Slams on Saturday, May 21, will feature a full-length roller derby game and a heavyweight championship wrestling match. The game will be between fan favorites Block N' Roll Express and New Wheeled Order.

Late in the afternoon of April 26, Lynnette Seamon arrived home to find her dog dead on the ground in front of her Union, Missouri home. Officers had dispatched to the trailer park she lived in for a report of a dog bite and shot and killed Seamon’s dog soon after.

Governor Mike Parsons said in a statement today that Missouri will go ahead with the execution of Carman Deck, whose death penalty sentence has previously been overturned three times. Deck's execution has been opposed by the Missouri Catholic Conference, the ACLU of Missouri, the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP and a variety of other civil society organizations.

Governor Mike Parsons said in a statement today that Missouri will go ahead with the execution of Carman Deck, whose death penalty sentence has previously been overturned three times. Deck's execution has been opposed by the Missouri Catholic Conference, the ACLU of Missouri, the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP and a variety of other civil society organizations.